Class Invasion

Rafael showing the children where he is from

Dinora telling the children about Mexico

The Buzzy Bee was quite popular

Three Wise Men and a Scot

"Maybe if I close my eyes for long enough the scary foreigners will go away"

This morning our Comprehensive Chinese class was "invaded" by a group of very cute children from a local kindergarten. They sung a song for us and recited a poem. Each of us then told the children where we are from and how we say "hello" in our own language.

Shui Che Yuan Primary School Visit

Primary School Main Building

Myself and Marie with some students

Playing charades, but I couldn't quite make out Lili's "elephant"

Some students showed us their artistic talents

Yesterday we visited Shui Che Yuan Primary School in Lanzhou City. There are around 2200 students in the school and students begin studying English from Grade 3. Some students performed for us and we then played some games with them. This is a well-resourced school and the difference between this school and the rural primary school we visited last month is striking.

Photos of Lanzhou University Post-Grad Campus

One of the student canteens

The Main Gate

Looking out of the Main Gate

Student Dorm Buildings

Just outside the back gate of the University (behind the Guest House)

Another view of the small market outside the back gate

The Medical Campus which is outside the back gate of the Post-Grad Campus

The side gate to the University. Our favourite fried rice restaurant is just around the corner

Traffic

A common obstacle on country roads

One of the buses, however usually they are a lot more crowded

A toll gate on the road leading into the city

Once you get out of the city the roads are a lot less busy!

Xinzhuangling Tunnel

The traffic in Lanzhou city can be a little crazy at times. The handbook we were given at the beginning informed us that to cross the road safely we should "walk and stop between lanes with a group of locals." Although we can't seem to work out the road rules here, we haven't seen many crashes at all. We do have the theory that you always give way to bigger vehicles. It seems to work. Once out of the city the roads are very different. Although you occasionally meet obstacles in the form of hay-stacked tractors and the like!

Kung Fu

The bus ride back to the city

Graham and Jeff have decided to become Kung-Fu Masters

Practicing with the performers after the show

Lanzhou University Undergrad Campus

Yesterday afternoon we were invited to watch a Kung Fu performance by the Lanzhou University High Level Martial Arts Team. Many students performed and after having practiced a little Kung Fu and Tai Chi ourselves, we were all very impressed by the performance. The performance was on Lanzhou University's Undergrad Campus, around a 45 minute drive from the city.

Zaijian Class 2 and Class 5

Class 5

Class 2 working on their letters

Class 2

This morning was the last time I will teach Classes 2 and 5 at Lanzhou No.33 Middle School. I have really enjoyed teaching these classes and I am sure that I have learned just as much from the students as they have learned from me. I was very impressed by the students enthusiasm for learning and of course their classroom behavior given that there are more than 55 students in each class!

For one of my final exercises I asked the students to compose a very short letter using the following sentence to begin; "I would like the people of Christchurch to know ........"

Here are some of their responses;

"I would like the people of Christchurch to know that China as more than 5000 years history. We are very happy that more foreigners come to China."

"I would like the people of Christchurch to know about our school life. We are very busy. We study at school at least 8 hours. But we have beef noodles."

"I would like the people of Christchurch to know that Lanzhou is a big city. And the people of Lanzhou are very friendly, kind, and honest."

"I would like the people of Christchurch to know about Lanzhou's Beef Noodles, they are very famous and very delicious. Lanzhou has a long history. Gansu is a very important province in China. I think our city is wonderful, but needs more and more construction."

But my personal favourite is;

"I would like the people of Christchurch to know about our teacher who has a head like a television. He's very lovely."